Coaling device for engine-tenders.



PATENTED AUG. 25, 1903.

P. J. MoCALMONT. OOALING DEVICE FOR ENGINE TENDERS.

APPLICATION FILED 001. 22, 1909.

N6 MODELv PATENTED AUG.-2Y5

No. 737,1a1.

F. J.- MoGALMONT. GOALIANG DEVICE FOR ENGINE TENDERS.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

AYPLIOATION FILED OUT. 22, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

YVIL m: mam: PETERS :0, wow-uwmwnsuincmu. c. c

' UNITED STATES Patented August 25, 1903.

PATENT: ()FF-ICE, L

COALING, DEVICE FOR ENGINE-TENDERS.

SBEGIFIGA-TION forming part of Letters Patent No. 737,131, dated August 25, 1903.

Application filed October 22, 1902 j Serial No. 128,367. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern; Be it known that I, FREDERICK J. MoOAL- MONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boone, county of Boone, State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Coaling Device for Engine-Tenders, of which the following is a specification. V

The objects of my invention are to provide a coaling device for engine-tenders which is mounted in a coal-shed and so arranged that the conveying-car will when the tracks are lowered run out on these tracks and provide a momentum of its own"enough tocarry it to the outer end of these tracks.

A further object is to provide a coal-car the bottom of which will be automatically swung downwardly on the hinges which hold it to the body portion of the car, thus dropping the coal contained in the car into a tender which is designed to be standing beneath the outer end of the tracks at the front portion of my. device. v

A further object is to provide means attached to my device whereby an operator standing in the engine-tender into which the coal is to be delivered can bypulling a rope throw the supporting-arms into such position that the outer end of the rails which form a portion of my device will swing downwardly. From this statement it will be seen that the rails are pivoted near their rear ends to the supporting-frame of the coal-shed.

A further object is to provide weights and springs connected with the framework of my device and so arranged that the outer ends of the rails will be supported by these weights and springs against the weight of the coal-car when it is loaded, and whenthis coal-car is at its outer limit of movement theseweights and springs also force the outer ends of the rails upwardly when the coal-car is empty to such a position that the front ends of these rails are higher than the rear ends of said rails, so that the car will move backwardly as soon as the coal on the interior of the car has dropped out. r a

A further obj ectis to provide asimple inexpensive device'for conveying the coal from the coal-shed to a position directly over a railroad track adjacent to the coal shed and dropping the coal into the tender of an engine on said railroad-track. The coal-car will then return to its position inside of the coal-shed without anything being done by the operator, the springs and weights working automatically to throw the outer ends of'the conveying- 1 rails upwardly, and thus allow the coal-car to move rearwardly into the interior of the coal-sheds. The only thing which the operator has to do in operating my device is to pull the operating-rope downwardly and thus set the device into operation.

It will be seen from the above that the tender of the engine will be much more easily filled andfilled to muchbetter advantage than with any of the devices now in common use.

My invention consists in certain details in the construction, arrangement, and combina tion of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompauying. drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows'in perspective the complete device with a tender of an engine in position at the front thereof. Fig. 2 shows a longitu- 1 in dotted line the position of the operative their lower limit of movement. Fig. 3 is an 'dinalsectional view of the device and shows inverted plan view of the coal-car, showing the mechanism for supporting the bottom of the car when in position to be filled.

- Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the numerals 10 and 11 to designate the sides of the frame of my device, which form a portion of the interior of a coalshed. These sides 10 and 11 have two up-' rights' substantially parallel to each other, having connecting portions 12 and 13at the top and bottom of the uprights. The top connecting-pieces I have designated by thenumeral 12 and the lower connecting-piece by the numeral 13. This frame, comprising the sides 10 and 11, has in front of it the ordinary railroad-track 14, over which the tender ,15 into which the coal is to be deposited is designed to run. to the upper rear portion of the frame and between the sides 10 and 11 thereon I have mounted a tilting track, comprising the side rails 16 and 17 and the forward connectingpiece 18, between the rails and the rear connecting-piece 19, connecting the rear ends of.

Pivotally attached these rails 16 and 17. The central portions of these rails 16 and 17 are straight, and they.

10 and 11 by means of the pivots 20. These pivots are so arranged that the forward ends of the rails can move upwardly and d ownwardly.

Pivotally attached to the bottoms 13 of the sides 10 and 11 of the frame are the supporting-arms. These arms are mounted between the sides 10 and 11, and their pivotal points 21 are slightly in front of the pivots 20. These supporting-arms are constructed as follows: Extending upwardly and forwardly from the pivotal point 21 is the support 22, having pivoted to its upper forward end the support 23, which is pivoted at its other and extreme upper end to the track 17. There is a pivotal point 24 between the supports 22 and 23, so constructed that the upper end of the support 22 and the lower endof the support 23 move only a slight distance rear-wardly past a dead-center of these supports; but they are allowed to move a considerable distance outwardly and downwardly past their dead-center. The opposite supporting-arm has the portions 25 and 26 pivotally attached to the bottom portion of the side 11 and the upper portion thereof attached to the track 16 and are constructed exactly like the arms 22 and 23 and pivoted in the same way.

Extending rearwardly from support 22 and substantially at right angles to it is the tilting-lever 27-formed integral with the support 22. The tilting-lever 28 is made integral with support 25 and substantially at right angles to it. Thus the supporting-arms are made exactly alike throughout their whole construction. There is a connecting-piece 29 between the lower portions of the supports 22 and 25 and the extreme forward ends of the tiltinglevers 27 and 28, so arranged that these levers will work together, as they are both designed to operate the supports of the supportingarms, and as these arms are designed to operate at the same time the tilting-levers must,

of course, also work at the same time.

Attached to the upper portions of the rails 16'and 17 and extending downwardly therefrom are the pulleys 30 and 31, the pulley 30 being attached to the rail 17 and pulley 31 beingattached to the rail 16. These pulleys are fixedto the rails designated some distance in front of the most forwardly portion of the frame. V

Attached to the rear upper ends of the levers 27 and 28 are the ropes 32 and The rope 32 isdesigned to pass forwardly and over the pulley 30 and hang downwardly therefrom, so that-a person in the tender 15 could readily grasp the lower forward end of this rope for purposes hereinafter made clear. The rope 33 is attached to the tilting-lever 28 and passes over the pulley 31 and depends therefrom at its forward end, so thata person in the tender could easily grasp the lower for ward end of this rope 33. It Will be seen that if one of these ropes 32 or 33 is grasped at its forward lower end the tilting-levers 27 and 28 will be drawn upwardly and thus force the supports of the supporting-arms forwardly at their central portion and cause them to take the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings;

Attached outside of the elbow joint 21, which joint is between the supports 22 and 23 of the supporting-arms, is the V-shaped supporting-piece 34. Said V-shaped supportingpiece is also designed to have the rope 35 attached to it. This rope 35 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the support-piece 31 and over the pulley 36, which is attached to the rear lower portion of the track 17 and downwardly therefrom to the pin 37 said pin being mounted as follows: This pin 37 passes downwardly through the weight 38 and also through the supporting-platform 39, which is attached to the most rearwardly of the uprights in the side of the frame 10 and has weight at its lower end. The size of the opening in the platform 39 through which the pin 37 passes is suflicient to allow the weight 40 to pass upwardly through it. The opening through the weight 38 through which the pin 37 passes is only of sufficient size to freely admit the pin, but not of such size to allow the weight l0 to pass through it. The construction of the pin and weights is thus arranged so that the weight 40 will hold the supports 22 and 23 at their inner limit of move ment, and when it is desired to start these supports 22 and 23 forwardly past the deadcenter only the weight 10 will have to be raised until these supports pass their deadcenter, and as soon as these supports pass their dead-center the upper portion of the weight 40 will engage the lower portion of the weight 38 and thus cause that weight to be raised and on account of the rope 35 being attached as it is will prevent the too rapid downward movement of the outer ends of the rails 16 and 17.

On the opposite side of the frame from that just described I have attached to the elbowjoint between the supports 25 and 26 a rope corresponding to the rope 35 and also a pulley, a pin, a platform, and two weights corresponding to the pulley 36, the chain 37, the weight 38, the platform 39, and the weight 40. The object of this is clearly obvious.

Extending rearwardly from the most forwardly upright of the side 11 in the frame is the platform 41, having an opening extending through it. This opening is designed to admit the rod 42. This rod 42 is attached at its upper end to the under portion of the rail 16.

Passing around the rod 42 and between the upper portion of the platform 41 and the lower portion or the rail 16'is the extensible coil-spring 42, designed to partially support the rail 16 after the supports of the supporting-arms have passed their dead-center and the central portion of them is moved forwardly and downwardly relative to-the frame. There may be also a similar platfrom on the opposite side of the frame from the platform assist in supporting said rails 16 and 17.

Mounted on the track comprising the rails 16 and 17 and between these rails and also between the portions18 and 19 of said track is a coal-conveying car, said car being supported on the rails 16 and 17 by means of wheels 44 and the axles 45. Depending from these axles 45 is the body portion of the car, comprising the sides 46 and 47 and the end portions 48 and 49. Said sides are substantially parallel throughout their entire length; but the end portions 48 and 49 are slightly near'er together at their top portions than at the bottom portions thereof. Hinged to the lower portions of the sides 46 and 47 are the that when the coal which is in the car has levers are so arranged that as they are moved outwardly from their points of attachment to the operating-levers 58 and 59 they will enter the loop 53-that is, the levers 54 and 55 will enter one of the loops 53 and the levers 56 and57 will enter one of the loops 53. The

operating-levers 58 and 59-are pivoted to the I under surface of the doors and 51, respectively, and lever 58 is also pivotallyattached to the lever 54 and the lever 57. The lever 59 is pivotally attached to the lever and the lever 56. These levers are so arranged that upon pulling the outer end of the operating-levers 58 and 59 in one direction the levers54, 55,- 56, and 57 will enter the loop 53,

and when these levers are drawn in the opposite directionthe levers 54, 55, 56, and 57 will be drawn out of engagement with these loops ,53.

. Attached to the outer ends of the operatinglevers 58 and 59 are the ropes 60 and 61, said ropes being attached firmly toithe most for wardly uprights of the sides 10 and 11. These ropes areof such length that as thecoal-car is at its rearwardly limit of movement on the track-rails 16 and 17 and when the doors 50 and 51 are closed the levers 58 and 59 will cause the levers 54, 55, 56, and 57 to enter the loops 53, as indicated above, and as the car at its forward limit of movement is on the tracks 15 and 16 the ropes will cause the levers 58 and 59 to be drawn at their outer ends rearwardly, and thus release the levers 54, 55, 56, and 57 from the loop 53, and thus allow the doors to swing downwardly on their hinges and permit coal or other substance on the'in-.

terior of the coal-car to drop downwardly. It will be seen that these ropes 60 and 61 can be made any desirable length, so that the coal can be dropped a considerabledistance be yond the front of the frame whose sides are .10 and 11, or they may be dropped very nearly in front of said frame.

. In practical use the coal ca'r is inthe posi? to be delivered into an engine-tender. The

doors 50 and 51 are also in the position shown in Fig. 1 as well as the rest of the parts of the device.

ings. The operator grasps the forward lower end of the rope 32, and thus causes the rearend levers 27 and 28 to be drawn upwardly,-

a The tender, then takes the position on the track 14 shown in Fig. 1 of the drawand thus force the forward upper ends of the I supports 22 and 23 forwardly, causing the.

lower rear ends of the supports 23 and 26 to be forced forwardly and downwardly, thus permitting the forward endsof the. rails 16and 17 to be drawn downwardly andthe-extreme ends of these rails to be forced up:

wardly, causing the rails to assume the posi-'.

tion shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings-that is, the rear ends of the rails and the forward ends of the rails 16 and 17 are at their downward limit of movement. This will cause the coal-car'to move on its wheels 44 forwardly, and as this car moves forward it will be seen there is considerable weight placed on the forward ends of the rails 16 and 17, and this weight is designed to'be are at their upper extreme limit of movement.

counteracted in themanncr above designated .1

by the springs 43 and the weights 38 and 40. WVhen the coal-car has reached a predetere mined outer limit of movement, the levers 54, 55, 56, and 57 will be drawn out of engage-. ment with the loops 53, and thus cause the coal to be dropped into the tender, whichis supposed to be directly beneath it when thiscar is at its outer limit of movement. As soon and the weights 38 and 40, so that the forward 1 &

ends of the rails 16 and 17 assume the position shown iii-Fig. 1that is, the forward ends of these rails are higher than the rear ends of said rails. The doors 51 at the bottom of the coal-car will swing upwardly and against the lower extremities of the coal-car and beheld in that position by means of the weights 52. The car will then move rearwardly to its rearward limit of movement on its supportingwheels 44, and when the rearward limit of movement is reached the levers 5e, 55, 56, and 57 will be drawn into the loops 53 and maintain that position. The car is then ready for a new load of coal and the device is in position for further operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, therefore, is

1. In a device of the classdescribed, the combination of a frame, track rails pivotally mounted in said frame, a car mounted on said traek-rails and capable of longitudinal movement thereof, jointed supporting-arms pivotally attached to said frame and to said trackrails for the purposes stated.

In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track rails pivotally mounted in said frame, a car mounted on said track-rails and capable of longitudinal movement thereof, a jointed supporting-arm attached to said frame and to said track-rails, means for holding the jointed arms at or just beyond a dead-center.

In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track rails pivotally mounted in said frame and extending longitudinally of it, supports pivoted to the frame, to the track-rails and to each other, means for holding said supports at their inner upward limit of movement, means for throwing the central portions of the said supports forwardly and downwardly, substantially as and for the purposes stated.

4:. In adevice of the class described, the combination of a frame, track rails pivotally mounted in said frame and firmly attached to each other, a car mounted between said rails, doors at the bottom of said car, means for moving said track-rails pivotally on this pivot, means attached to said doors for holding them in a closed position and means for operating said means as the car moves longitudinally of the hl'FtCkdbllS, forthe purposes stated 5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track rails pivotally mounted in said frame having their forward ends extending some distance in front of the frame, a car mounted on said track-rails, a connecting-piece between the forward end of said track rails for limiting the forward movement of said car, a connecting-piece between the rear end of said track-rails for limiting the rearward movement of said car, jointed supportingarms pivoted to said frame and to said track-rails, means attached to said track-rails and to said jointed supporting-arms for holding the jointed arms up to or just beyond the dead-center of the movement of these arms.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track-rails pivoted near the rear end of said frame, said track-rails being firmly connected with each other at their forward and rear ends, a car mounted on said track-rails and depending therefrom, a bottom portion hinged to said car, loops attached to said car, levers operatively connected with said bottom portion, means for operating said levers as the car moves longitudinally over the track-rails, for thepurposes stated.

7. In a device of the class described, the com bination of a frame, track-rails pivoted near the rear end of said frame, said track-rails be ing firmly connected with each other at their forward and rear ends, a car mounted on said track-rails, and depending therefrom, a bot tom portion hanging to said car, loops attached to said car, levers operatively connected with said bottom portion, means for operating said levers as the car moves longitudinally over the track-rails, supports pivoted to the forward end of said track-rails and to the frame, an elbow-joint in said supports, said supports being capable of movement at their central portion, downwardly and forwardly, for the purposes stated.

8. A device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track-rails pivoted near the rear end of said track-rails and depending therefrom, a bottom portion hanging to said car, loops attached to said car, levers operatively connected with said bottom portion, means for operating said levers as the car moves longitudinally over the track-rails, supports pivoted to the forward end of said track-rails and to the frame, an elbow-joint in said supports, said supports being capable of movement at their central portion, downwardly and forwardly, weights connected with said supports for limiting said downward and forward movement, one of said weights bein designed to hold the central portion of said supports at their upward inward limit of movement, for the purposes stated.

9. A device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track-rails pivoted near the rear end of said. frame, said track-rails being firmly connected with each. other at their forward and rearward ends, car mounted on said track-rails and depending there from, a bottom portion hanging to said car, loops attached to said car, levers operative] y connected with said bottom portion, means for operating said levers as the car moves longitudinally over the track-rails, supports pi voted to the forward end of said traek-rails and to the frame, an elbow-joint in said supports, said supports being capable of movement at their central portion, downwardly and fol wardly, weights connected with said supports for limiting said downward and forward movement, one of said weights being designed to hold the central. portion of said supports at their upper inward limit of movement, coilleg springs for partially supporting the outer ends of said track-rails as the loaded coal-car passes over said rails, for the purposes stated.

10. A device of the class described, the combination of a frame, track-railspivoted near the rear end of said frame, said trackrails being firmly connected with each other at their forward and rearward ends, car mounted on said track-rails and depending therefrom, a bottom portion hanging to said car, loops attached to said car, levers operatively connected with said bottom portion, means for operating said levers as the car moves longitudinally over the track-rails, supports pivoted to the forward end of said track-rails and to the frame, an elbow-joint in said supports, said supports being capable of movement at their central portion downwardly and forwardly, weights connected with said supports for limitingsaid downward and forward movement, one of said weights being designed to hold the central portion of said supports at their upper inward limit of movement, tilting-levers attached to the lower ends of the lower said supports, a rope at tached to the rear end of said tilting-levers for starting the device into operation, for the purposes stated.

11. In a device of the class described,a combination of a frame, track-rails mounted in said frame, a car mounted between said trackrails, supports pivoted to the forward end of said track-rails and to the frame, an elbowjoint'in said supports, said supports being capable of movement at their central portion downwardly and forwardly, for the purposes stated.

ed with said supports for limiting said-down;- ward-and -forward movement, one of said weights being designed to hold the central portion ofsaid supportsat their upper inward limit of movement for the purposes -s tated.

bination of a frame, track-rails mounted in r said frame, a car mounted between said trackdownwardly and forwardly, weights connect ed with said supports for limiting said downwardand-forward movement, one of said weights being designed to hold the central portion of said supports at their upper inward limit'of movement, coil-springs for partially supporting the outer ends of. said track-rails as the loaded coal-car passes over said rails, for the purposes stated.

14:. In a device of the class described, a combination of a frame, track-rails mounted in said frame, a car mounted between said trackrails, supports pivoted to-the forward end of said track-rails and to the frame, an elbowjoint in-said supports, said supports being capable of movement at their central portion downwardly and forwardly, weights connect ed with said supports for limiting said downward -and-forward movement, one of said Weights being designed to hold the central portion of said supports at their upper inward limit of movement, coil-springs for partially 5 -t' 1 3. In a device of the class described,-a com-' 

